JD Beach Set For Graves Yamaha Ride

As expected, JD Beach will team with Garrett Gerloff in the two-rider Yamaha Extended Service (Y.E.S.)/ Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha team for the 2014 AMA Daytona SportBike Championship.

The team was announced last night at the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin, California, in a joint announcement that Y.E.S. had renewed its title sponsorship agreement with Yamaha.

Beach finished fourth in last year’s Daytona SportBike Championship behind Cameron Beaubier, Jake Gagne and Gerloff on a RoadRace Factory Yamaha R6 so the move to the factory team keeps him on equipment he’s familiar with.

Beach is taking over from Beaubier with the Daytona SportBike Champion moving to the Graves Yamaha Superbike team with three-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes.

Road racer/dirt tracker Beach won the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2008 and in 2010 he won the AMA Supersport East Championship.

“We’ve got a very strong and talented lineup of Daytona SportBike riders for 2014,” said Keith McCarty, Yamaha’s motorsport racing division manager. “Garrett has been a huge asset to our team, and his race results keep getting better and better. We’re expecting big things from him this season. JD is a very accomplished racer, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to our team. He has already been racing a Yamaha R6 for the past few years, and with excellent results, so we’re looking forward to his continued success with Yamaha.”